1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vehicle for passenger entry and exit which allows both an able-bodied person and a physically handicapped person to enter and exit a passenger airplane.
2. Background Art
As described below, a vehicle for passenger entry and exit has been proposed which allows both an able-bodied person and a physically handicapped person to enter and exit a passenger airplane (hereinafter referred to as an airplane).
The vehicle for passenger entry and exit comprises a horizontal floor provided at a position corresponding to a passenger platform and at a predetermined height position so as to form a transfer floor surface for passengers, a stairway device having an upper end attached to the horizontal floor, and a hydraulic cylinder that causes the stairway device to pivot around the upper end thereof in a vertical plane. Furthermore, the stairway device has a plurality of stair treads and a placement plate provided at a lower end thereof and wide enough to place a wheelchair or the like thereon. Moreover, the plurality of stair treads and the placement plate are provided in the stairway device via a parallel link mechanism so as to each take a horizontal posture regardless of the inclination of the stairway device (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-194198).
With this configuration, the hydraulic cylinder performs a contracting operation to extend the stairway device from the horizontal floor side to the ground, so that an able-bodied person can walk along the placement plate, the stairway device, and the horizontal floor in this order to enter the airplane and conversely exit the airplane.
Furthermore, for a physically handicapped person in a wheelchair, the wheelchair is moved onto the placement plate, and then the hydraulic cylinder performs an expanding operation to cause the stairway device to pivot upward so that the stairway device takes a horizontal posture. Thus, the stair treads and the placement plate are placed at the same level as the horizontal floor.
Then, in this condition, the wheelchair is moved along the placement plate, the group of stair treads, and the horizontal floor in this order to allow the physically handicapped to enter the airplane. Of course, the physically handicapped person is allowed to exit the airplane by causing the stairway device to pivot downward from the horizontal posture with the wheelchair placed on the placement plate.